The Government Taketh Away: The Politics of Pain in the United States and Canada

by Pal, Leslie Alexander; Weaver, R. Kent

• ISBN13: 9780878409020
• ISBN10: 0878409025
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-04-01
• Publisher: Georgetown Univ Pr

Summary

Democratic government is about making choices. Sometimes those choices involve the distribution of benefits. At other times they involve the imposition of some type of loss-a program cut, increased taxes, or new regulatory standards. Citizens will resist such impositions if they can, or will try to punish governments at election time. The dynamics of loss imposition are therefore a universal-if unpleasant-element of democratic governance.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	ix
Preface	xi
The Politics of Pain	1	(40)
Leslie A. Pal
R. Kent Weaver
Cutting Old-Age Pensions	41	(30)
R. Kent Weaver
Controlling Health Care Costs for the Aged	71	(36)
Carolyn Hughes Tuohy
Telecommunications Deregulation	107	(30)
Richard J. Schultz
Andrew Rich
Tobacco Control	137	(30)
Donley T. Studlar
Closing Military Bases	167	(28)
Lilly J. Goren
P. Whitney Lackenbauer
Siting Nuclear Waste	195	(38)
Barry G. Rabe
Gun Control	233	(30)
Leslie A. Pal
Abortion	263	(30)
Raymond Tatalovich
Conclusions	293	(36)
Leslie A. Pal
R. Kent Weaver
Contributors	329	(4)
Index	333